2016 in Review

This is a review of the past year, month by month, so that I can remember all that we’ve done and been through. There will be individual blog posts coming to go more in depth on some of the events that happened.

January

J left on January 1 for a five week trip

C and I saw a ballet performance of Sleeping Beauty put on at the local university. She loved it and it led to signing her up for ballet lessons in the fall.

I made some healthy changes in the house by switching from dryer sheets to dryer balls, and by switching from plastic to glass storage containers in the kitchen.

I finished a crocheted blanket that I had been working on for C.

C and I took a trip to St Augustine, FL

February

J got promoted and returned from his trip

C ran out of the pull-ups that she wore at night and we didn’t buy any more.

Found out that my Vitamin D levels were very low. Ideal levels are 60-70, mine was 17. I started taking high dose supplement.

I met with an allergist who did skin prick testing for food items. When I was tested in Hawaii and my body was going haywire, the results showed I was allergic to almost every food tested for. This time, I showed no allergies to any food tested for. My body was healing.

J, C, and I took a trip to Atlanta. We stayed in a hotel downtown and went to the Georgia Aquarium, Coca-Cola Museum, IKEA, and applied for C’s first passport

I got a bad sinus and ear infection

J left at the end of the month for a one week trip

March

I got sick again at the beginning of the month, ended up in the ER at one point

C and I took a two week trip to Antigua, Guatemala at the end of the month to visit J’s parents who were staying there for the winter. J joined us in Guatemala for one week to be there for Easter.

C and I both got sick at the end of the month

April

We started some seedlings and planned a backyard garden

I got another bad sinus infection

We spent a lot of time outside playing and riding bikes

I met with a naturopathic doctor in Atlanta. I finally got some explanations and answers. A slew of tests were run and I started on some supplements.

J was gone for 10 days at the end of the month.

May

J was gone for a two week trip

C and I took a trip to New York City where J met up with us at the end of his trip.

I got sick again with another sinus infection

I had a follow-up appointment with my naturopathic doctor to go over test results. She ran blood tests for mold allergies and found that I’m highly allergic to 8 of the 11 molds she tested for. I had positive evidence of mold exposure in my body (thank you, Hawaii). I left with entire bag of prescriptions and supplements to remove mold from my sinuses and help my body balance and function properly again.

I had an endoscopy (throat scope) procedure done at the hospital to look for answers to my throat swelling reaction to dairy. Turns out, I have an extremely narrow esophagus. The average adult has a diameter of 15-20mm but mine was only 6mm. That explained SO much throughout my entire life! The doctor did a throat stretching procedure that increased the diameter to about 9mm.

I had a CT scan done on my sinuses.

We finally discovered the trigger to C’s eczema. I had kept this off of the blog and social media with my Photoshop skills but I will be opening up about it in a separate post.

June

J was gone for 13 days this month

C took part in a week-long gymnastics camp

C and I took a week-long trip to Pennsylvania to visit my family

C got her first official haircut at her aunt’s hair salon

We started harvesting vegetables from our garden

It was a rainy month so we spent a lot of time inside doing crafty things.

I got sick again.

July

J, C, Dulce, and I went camping at Stone Mountain, GA for the 4th of July which was a fun time but ridiculously hot and humid.

We started Whole30

Dulce had her 7th birthday!

We took C to the movie theater for the first time to see The Secret Life of Pets

C start survival swimming lessons, going for 10 min a day, four days a week, for six weeks

We saw Beauty and Beast on stage at the local university

I had another throat stretching procedure done that got the diameter of my esophagus up to 12mm.

Partway through Whole30, I started getting new ill health symptoms and at that point discovered the Medical Medium. I started following his dietary and supplement recommendations and I started feeling better one week later and have continued to improve ever since.

August

J was gone 17 days this month

C went bowling for the first time

C went to the dentist for the first time

I was awarded a gold medal for hula hooping at our squadron olympic games

C started PreK and ballet lessons

J and C took a trip to Seattle to visit his family

September

I met up with my best friend in Las Vegas for a Coldplay concert and some relaxation

J’s mother came for a visit and was here for C’s birthday

C turned 4 years old and had a Paw Patrol themed party.

We had a strong storm knock down branches and cause damage to our backyard fence

We participated in a neighborhood yard sale and got rid of a lot of unnecessary things and clutter

October

J, C, and I took a camping trip to Helen, GA for Oktoberfest

C and I ran in a local 1 mile race

C dressed up as Elena of Avalor for Halloween

I carved pumpkins with C for the first time

J was gone for 14 days this month

My mom came to visit

November

Both of J’s parents came to visit

J and I spent two nights in Savannah, GA where I ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon on Nov 5

J, his parents, and C took a weekend trip to St Augustine, FL

I ran a 5k race on the military base

We spent Thanksgiving week in Orlando with J’s family and relatives. We took C to Disney for the first time, going to the Magic Kingdom twice and Hollywood Studios once.

We put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving

December

J was gone for the entire month, returning on Christmas Eve

C went on her first horse ride at a friend’s birthday party

C and I spent my 39th birthday at Disney World

We attended multiple Christmas programs and parties

We saw Moana and Sing in the movie theater

We decorated for Christmas, and we baked and decorated cookies

We had a peaceful Christmas at home, thankful that our little family was together this year

We spent two nights in Atlanta staying with friends to ring in the New Year.

*******
“appreciate this moment. stop and look around you. be thankful for all you have
and where you are because this time, next year, nothing will be the same.”~r.h.Sin

All photographs that are watermarked johnnieandangela, angelagreenphotography, and alotandacouple are the sole property of Angela Green. Photos and blog content may not be used without giving proper credit and a direct link back to the source.